Returns negative one (-1) if expressions are equal, or zero (0) if unequal.

Description:

Operator = (Equality) is a binary operator that compares two expressions for equality and returns the result - a boolean value mainly in the form of an Integer: negative one (-1) for true and zero (0) for false. Only if the left and right-hand side types are both Boolean, the return type is also Boolean. The arguments are not modified in any way.

This operator can be overloaded to accept user-defined types as well.

Operator = (Equality) should not be confused with initializations or assignments, both of which also use the "=" symbol.

Examples:

Dim i AsInteger = 0'' initialization: initialise i with a value of 0
i = 420'' assignment: assign to i the value of 420

If(i = 69)Then'' equation: compare the equality of the value of i and 69Print"serious error: i should equal 420"End -1End If

Operator <> (Inequality) is complement to Operator = (Equality), and is functionally identical when combined with Operator Not (Bit-wise Complement).